About the elections
Every year ERRIN holds elections for the Management Board. The Management Board consists of up to 15 representatives, who are elected from the membership for a period of three years, renewable for a further three years. The Management Board sets the direction for ERRIN’s activities, supervises the implementation of the ERRIN’s Annual Work Plan and provides guidance to the work of the ERRIN Secretariat.
Becoming a Management Board member offers an opportunity to develop ERRIN further as a collective voice of more than a hundred innovative European regions and their ecosystems, and strategically lead the network’s work. It allows both your organisation and you as its representative to get involved in ERRIN’s management, expand your expertise, and increase your visibility and impact. It also provides a chance to build closer connections with other colleagues on the Board.
As one of ERRIN’s network priorities is widening and deepening engagement, we particularly encourage members representing developing regional innovation ecosystems to apply. A diversity of stakeholders and views is essential for steering discussions and developing policies and projects that can best address the needs of all European regions and their innovation ecosystems.
Results of the 2025 elections
Between 3 and 17 October, ERRIN members could put forward their candidatures for this year’s elections. In this period, we received three nominations for three open seats, which means that the voting procedure was not necessary. We warmly welcome the three selected candidates, who were confirmed by the full membership at the ERRIN Autumn General Meeting on 10 December.
Newly elected Management Board members
Read the presentations below.
Cécile Combette-Murin, Normandy Region Brussels Office
Located in the North-Western part of France, Normandy Region focuses on climate mitigation and adaptation as political priorities. It is a key territory for marine renewable energies. It is also one of the coordinators and founding members of the Hydrogen Valleys S3 Partnership. Normandy was among the first French regions to set up a “local IPCC” to assess its climate vulnerabilities. The Region is co-leading ERRIN’s Climate Adaptation Task Force and is a partner of RESIST, a five-year EU-funded project that has emerged from the need to make regions more resilient to climate change. Normandy Region is also involved as a partner in ECIV/European Circular Innovation Valley, a Regional Innovation Valley project focusing on circular economy.
Cécile Combette-Murin is the Head of the Normandy Region Brussels Office since January 2016, and was previously in charge of the Lower Normandy office in Brussels. Within the Normandy Region Brussels Office, in addition to a coordinating role, she works more specifically on issues relating to cohesion policy, industrial policy and transport policy, co-chairing the transport working group of the French regional offices.
Michael Johnsson, Region Skåne Brussels Office
Region Skåne Brussels Office is an integrated part of the Department for Regional Development, External Relations Unit, at Region Skåne, the southernmost region in Sweden. The office represents the interests of Skåne in relation to EU policy and programmes in the areas of research and innovation, industry, digitalisation and competence development. Region Skåne is responsible for and coordinates all public and private health care in Skåne and has a responsibility for the development of business, mobility (including public transport), culture and cooperation with other regions in Sweden, Europe and beyond. Located in Skåne, Lund University is currently the second strongest participating organisation in Horizon 2020 in Sweden. Skåne is also hosting two new world-class research infrastructures in materials sciences – the European Spallation Source and the MAX IV Laboratory.
Michael Johnsson is the Director of the Region Skåne Brussels Office, responsible for its day-to-day operations. He has been working in Brussels since 1999, first for the European Commission DG EMPL with both employment policies and cohesion policies, and then for Region Skåne, covering fields ranging from research and innovation policies, infrastructure to green and digital policy issues.
Anthony van de Ven, Brainport-Eindhoven Brussels Office
Brainport Eindhoven is a Dutch region where knowledge institutes, start-ups, high-tech & manufacturing companies, and the government work together with one goal in mind, innovation. The city of Eindhoven is one of the three economic engines of the Netherlands. With its Brainport 2020 Strategy, developed jointly by knowledge, business and public partners within the city and region, Eindhoven has determined its strategic objectives for city and region for the coming decade. The key ambitions of Eindhoven include continuing of being a sustainable, technologically innovative, inclusive, safe and economically successful city for all its citizens. Brainport-Eindhoven has been an active member of the ERRIN network from the very outset. Currently, the office is active e.g. in the ERRIN’s ICT and Science and Education for Society Working Groups.
Anthony van de Ven is the Head of the Brainport-Eindhoven Brussels Office. He has been with Brainport Eindhoven for almost 20 years, previously working as Head of Policy Development at EUROCITIES. Anthony has served several terms on the ERRIN Management Board as member, as vice chair and as chair on behalf of Brainport-Eindhoven, since the establishment of the network.
Following the revision of the Articles of Association adopted by the ERRIN Extraordinary General Meeting in 2023, Management Board members who are finishing their first three-year mandate, can express willingness to renew it for a second three-year mandate (art. 16.7) before the yearly election process is launched. In 2025, this means that South Denmark, South Moravia and Tuscany will stay on the Management Board for a second mandate. Two other Management Board members have already completed the maximum time of two consecutive mandates this year, resulting in two seats that will open for election.
At the same time, the Region Västra Götaland left the Management Board, due to staff changes, after completing one year of their three-year mandate. The Management Board thus decided to put their seat for election for the remaining two-year period.
Given the above, this year three seats are open for the Management Board election.
The Management Board is responsible for the administration and management of ERRIN. It manages ERRIN’s current affairs and represents the Association in all legal and extra-legal sectors. The Management Board undertakes any act necessary or useful to achieve the purpose and objectives of ERRIN, except for those powers reserved for the Annual General Meeting. The responsibilities include providing guidance to the Secretariat and the Working Groups, implementing the Annual Work Plan and budget, making strategic decisions on policy statements, projects, and partnerships.
Serving on the Management Board is open to all full members of ERRIN who have paid their membership fee for the year in question. Candidates should be Brussels-based, have experience in research and innovation, and have decision-making power in their organisation/office. Please also take into consideration that serving on the Management Board requires time and that the duties are carried out free of charge.
Geographical criteria
There can be a maximum of two members per country elected to the Management Board. The same region may not be represented in the Management Board by two institutions at the same time. In 2025, this means that any full members from Spain may not put themselves forward for election since there are already two sitting Management Board members from this country.
| 3 October | Call for nominations open |
| 17 October | Deadline for nominations |
| 23 October | Election will open |
| 7 November | Election will close |
| 18 November | Management Board meeting (last meeting of the current board) |
| 19 November | Publication of election results |
| 10 or 11 December | Autumn General Meeting Confirmation of the newly elected Management Board members |
| January 2026 | First meeting of the new Management Board Dismissal of responsibilities for Management Board members stepping down (handover) |
All ERRIN member organisations have one vote each under the condition that they have paid their membership fee for 2025. If more than one vote is received from the same member, these votes will not be counted.
The candidates who receive the largest number of votes will be elected to the Management Board until all the available seats on the Management Board have been filled. The Management Board is elected with at least 50 percent of the members +1 member voting (quorum). If this minimum is not reached, there will be a second round without a quorum.